diff --git a/src/main.cc b/src/main.cc
index d068bf27..bb65806c 100644
--- a/src/main.cc
+++ b/src/main.cc
@@ -433,10 +433,10 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
     run_unit_tests();
 
     shell_manager.register_env_var("bufname",
-                                   [](const Context& context)
+                                   [](const String& name, const Context& context)
                                    { return context.buffer().name(); });
     shell_manager.register_env_var("selection",
-                                   [](const Context& context)
+                                   [](const String& name, const Context& context)
                                    { return context.window().selections_content().back(); });
     register_commands();
     register_highlighters();
diff --git a/src/shell_manager.cc b/src/shell_manager.cc
index b9f65766..265a8440 100644
--- a/src/shell_manager.cc
+++ b/src/shell_manager.cc
@@ -78,10 +78,15 @@ String ShellManager::pipe(const String& input,
                 setenv(("kak_" + name).c_str(), local_var->second.c_str(), 1);
             else
             {
-                auto env_var = m_env_vars.find(name);
+                auto env_var = std::find_if(
+                    m_env_vars.begin(), m_env_vars.end(),
+                    [&](const std::pair<Regex, EnvVarRetriever>& pair)
+                    { return boost::regex_match(name.begin(), name.end(),
+                                                pair.first); });
+
                 if (env_var != m_env_vars.end())
                 {
-                    String value = env_var->second(context);
+                    String value = env_var->second(name, context);
                     setenv(("kak_" + name).c_str(), value.c_str(), 1);
                 }
             }
@@ -94,10 +99,10 @@ String ShellManager::pipe(const String& input,
     return output;
 }
 
-void ShellManager::register_env_var(const String& name,
+void ShellManager::register_env_var(const String& regex,
                                     EnvVarRetriever retriever)
 {
-    m_env_vars[name] = std::move(retriever);
+    m_env_vars.push_back({ Regex(regex.begin(), regex.end()), std::move(retriever) });
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/shell_manager.hh b/src/shell_manager.hh
index 0b22da5c..37d47b32 100644
--- a/src/shell_manager.hh
+++ b/src/shell_manager.hh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ namespace Kakoune
 {
 
 class Context;
-typedef std::function<String (const Context&)> EnvVarRetriever;
+typedef std::function<String (const String& name, const Context&)> EnvVarRetriever;
 typedef std::unordered_map<String, String>     EnvVarMap;
 
 class ShellManager : public Singleton<ShellManager>
@@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ public:
                 const String& cmdline, const Context& context,
                 const EnvVarMap& env_vars);
 
-    void register_env_var(const String& name, EnvVarRetriever retriever);
+    void register_env_var(const String& regex, EnvVarRetriever retriever);
 
 private:
-    Regex                                       m_regex;
-    std::unordered_map<String, EnvVarRetriever> m_env_vars;
+    Regex                                          m_regex;
+    std::vector<std::pair<Regex, EnvVarRetriever>> m_env_vars;
 };
 
 }